The AUKUS pact is a model for Western allies

The AUKUS pact involves designing and building a next-gen submarine together with Australia, rotating subs through Perth in the 2020s and selling up to five Virginia-class nuclear submarines to Australia in the 2030s, as a model for Western allies to match China’s heft and pool talent and resources.

March 17, 2023 . 1:34 AM

1 min read

AUKUS pact involves designing and building a next-gen submarine together with Australia, rotating subs through Perth in the 2020s and selling up to five Virginia-class nuclear submarines to Australia in the 2030s.
The scheme is unprecedented and fraught with risks as the cost to Australia is high, America is struggling to produce enough subs for its own navy and the project will have to survive the vicissitudes of politics and budgets in all three countries for at least two decades.
The submarines will be nuclear-powered, but not nuclear-armed and their reactors will contain highly enriched uranium but will be supplied to Australia in units that are welded shut.
The AUKUS pact is a model for Western allies to match China’s heft and involves a trade-off between sovereignty and capability, pooling talent and resources.
Allies can match China's effort only by acting together, and AUKUS is a way forward.